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Roll
over, Beethoven!
James Phillips,
City Press July 16, 1995
THE hills were alive
with the sound of music at the Beethoven Room
this week. The occasion
was a chamber recital of recent works by
Grahamstown composers
Rick van Heerden and Bongani Ndodana.
The audience, which
included distinguished members such as
novelist André
Brink, enjoyed a challenging hour of listening
pleasure and an all
too infrequent reminder that yes, people apart
from Beethoven, Bach
and Bizet also write music.Alleluia!
From the opening ''Alleluias''by
Ndodana to Van Heerden's
''Joseph's Toy'',
the dissonances and clashes spiced with a healthy
dose of African themes
filled the space with a sublime anarchy.
This was the stuff
of which the festival ought to be made not
languishing in some
fringe obscurity. The end of this century is but
five years away, yet
the festival powers-that- be seem unable to
make the leap from
the 18th and 19th centuries into present-day
reality. Witness the
''serious'' music selected for this festival.
Ludwig applauding.
Thank you, Ndodana, Van Heerden and the ensemble,
somewhere Ludwig was
gleefully applauding. Aluta Continua!
Ecna
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